How severe is CVE-2026-72404?

CVE-2026-72404 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2026-72404?

CVE-2026-72404 affects the following packages: Kernel (Linux). Ecosystems affected: Linux.

How do I fix CVE-2026-72404?

Update Kernel to 7.1.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-72404 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2026-72404 in my Linux dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for Kernel. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

How do I mitigate CVE-2026-72404 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

How does O3 Security protect against CVE-2026-72404?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2026-72404 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2026-72404 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2026-72404 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

When was CVE-2026-72404 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2026-72404 was published on August 15, 2026 and was last updated on August 18, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐧

🐧 Linux

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2026-72404

HIGH

CVE-2026-72404 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) vulnerability in Kernel. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2026-72404 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.

tipc: fix UAF in cleanup_bearer() due to premature dst_cache_destroy()

Published

Aug 15, 2026

Updated

Aug 18, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Aug 18, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐧Kernel

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Linux packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tipc: fix UAF in cleanup_bearer() due to premature dst_cache_destroy()

TIPC UDP media bearer teardown calls dst_cache_destroy() on its replicast caches before calling synchronize_net() to wait for concurrent RCU readers (transmitters) to finish:

static void cleanup_bearer(struct work_struct *work) { ... list_for_each_entry_safe(rcast, tmp, &ub->rcast.list, list) { dst_cache_destroy(&rcast->dst_cache); list_del_rcu(&rcast->list); kfree_rcu(rcast, rcu); } ... dst_cache_destroy(&ub->rcast.dst_cache); udp_tunnel_sock_release(ub->sk); synchronize_net(); ... }

This is highly buggy because dst_cache_destroy() immediately frees the per-CPU cache memory (free_percpu()) and releases the cached dst entries without any synchronization.

If a concurrent transmitter (e.g., tipc_udp_xmit()) is running on another CPU under RCU protection, it can call dst_cache_get() concurrently, leading to:

Use-After-Free on the per-CPU cache pointer itself (crash).
"rcuref - imbalanced put()" warning if it attempts to release a dst that was concurrently released by dst_cache_destroy().

Furthermore, calling kfree(ub) immediately after synchronize_net() without closing the socket first (or waiting after closing it) leaves a window where a concurrent receiver (tipc_udp_recv()) could start after synchronize_net(), access ub, and suffer a UAF when kfree(ub) runs.

To fix this, we must defer dst_cache_destroy() and kfree(ub) until after we have ensured that no more readers can see the bearer/socket and all existing readers have finished:

Defer rcast entry destruction (both dst_cache_destroy() and kfree()) to an RCU callback using call_rcu_hurry(). Using call_rcu_hurry() ensures the dst entries are released quickly.
Release the bearer socket using udp_tunnel_sock_release() (stops new receive readers).
Call synchronize_net() to wait for all outstanding RCU readers (both transmit and receive) to finish.
Now that it is safe, call dst_cache_destroy() on the main bearer cache, and free ub.

Note: 3) and 4) can be changed later in net-next to also use call_rcu_hurry() and get rid of the synchronize_net() latency.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐧Linux	`Kernel`	≥ 5.3.0&&< 7.1.5	7.1.5

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for Kernel. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update Kernel to 7.1.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-72404 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2026-72404 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Tailored to CVE-2026-72404. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tipc: fix UAF in cleanup_bearer() due to premature dst_cache_destroy() TIPC UDP media bearer teardown calls dst_cache_destroy() on its replicast caches before calling synchronize_net() to wait for concurrent RCU readers (transmitters) to finish: static void cleanup_bearer(struct work_struct *work) { ... list_for_each_entry_safe(rcast, tmp, &ub->rcast.list, list) { dst_cache_destroy(&rcast->dst_cache); list_del_rcu(&rcast->list); kfree_rcu(rcast, rcu); } ... dst_cache_destroy(&ub->rcast.dst_cache); udp_tunnel_sock_

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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